https://pokepast.es/4681d9fb7230bc93
Team I built and got to 1700s with.
Working ok but I feel like I'm going to plateau as I get higher on the ladder
First proper post on here, so any general advice taken too :)
ladder name is blip blipperson
(Nihilego) @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
This Pokémon was chosen because I believe its quite underrated in the current metagame.
I chose the power herb set, because it's an easy to achieve win condition in a lot of games (EVd to Beast Boost Speed)
I tested a lot of different sets, Meteor Beam, Sludge Wave and Grass Knot are 3 non-negotiable move slots, but the last one was tough.
Power Gem ended up being the most consistent!
This mon wins a lot of games on the spot once the opposing team is sufficiently chipped
(Tornadus-Therian) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Knock Off
This was chosen as a blanket check to a lot of physical attackers, but also as an anti-lead to the rife Landorous.
It can taunt before the opposing Landorous rocks or toxics and then knock it off, providing crucial chip for Nihilego to clean later.
Taunt is also great for shutting down Mew, denying veil, webs and stopping Calm Mind users like Fini and Clef!
(Heatran) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
This was orginallly a Magenzone but I decided to use this popular set instead for the removal of steels for Nihilego's sweeps. Perhaps the Air Balloon set is slightly redundant seeing as the team isn't really weak to Landorous, although it's a nice counter to opposing Heatran on an otherwise Heatran weak team.
I decided to go with double fire move because of the need to remove steels even when at low health.
Toxic isn't clicked that often, but it's been great for trapping with Magma Storm on occasion.
(Kartana) @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
The physical breaker for the team. A lot of teams are very weak to Life Orb Kartana, and while it may not get a lot of opportunities to Swords Dance on this type of team, it doesn't really need to, because it's main purpose is to break everything down so that Nihilego can sweep. The team is also quite weak to stall otherwise and this is one of the few remedies to that.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
Quite a lame Fini set, but the team was incredibly weak to rain, weavile, and urshifu, and this was an easy check to all 3. This is why physical bulk was maximised. That being said, it's a lot of roles to compress onto one mon with no recovery, so perhaps Toxapex would be better served here instead? The combination of moves chosen has been pretty effective, with Nature's madness doing big chip for Nihilego to sweep later.
landorous (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 29 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Landorous. The standard smogon EVs (Can take 2 +1 grassy glides from Rillaboom etc). This is used as the Teams Stealth Rocker and Electric check. I opted for Knock Off over Defog or Toxic because I feel a Landorous without Knock Off just sits there a lot of the time and is too passive. I decided to reduce the IVs quite a bit for the slow u-turns, especially seeing as I wasn't too worried about outspeeding Heatran because of my own Heatran
Team I built and got to 1700s with.
Working ok but I feel like I'm going to plateau as I get higher on the ladder
First proper post on here, so any general advice taken too :)
ladder name is blip blipperson
(Nihilego) @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
This Pokémon was chosen because I believe its quite underrated in the current metagame.
I chose the power herb set, because it's an easy to achieve win condition in a lot of games (EVd to Beast Boost Speed)
I tested a lot of different sets, Meteor Beam, Sludge Wave and Grass Knot are 3 non-negotiable move slots, but the last one was tough.
Power Gem ended up being the most consistent!
This mon wins a lot of games on the spot once the opposing team is sufficiently chipped
(Tornadus-Therian) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Knock Off
This was chosen as a blanket check to a lot of physical attackers, but also as an anti-lead to the rife Landorous.
It can taunt before the opposing Landorous rocks or toxics and then knock it off, providing crucial chip for Nihilego to clean later.
Taunt is also great for shutting down Mew, denying veil, webs and stopping Calm Mind users like Fini and Clef!
(Heatran) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
This was orginallly a Magenzone but I decided to use this popular set instead for the removal of steels for Nihilego's sweeps. Perhaps the Air Balloon set is slightly redundant seeing as the team isn't really weak to Landorous, although it's a nice counter to opposing Heatran on an otherwise Heatran weak team.
I decided to go with double fire move because of the need to remove steels even when at low health.
Toxic isn't clicked that often, but it's been great for trapping with Magma Storm on occasion.
(Kartana) @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
The physical breaker for the team. A lot of teams are very weak to Life Orb Kartana, and while it may not get a lot of opportunities to Swords Dance on this type of team, it doesn't really need to, because it's main purpose is to break everything down so that Nihilego can sweep. The team is also quite weak to stall otherwise and this is one of the few remedies to that.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
Quite a lame Fini set, but the team was incredibly weak to rain, weavile, and urshifu, and this was an easy check to all 3. This is why physical bulk was maximised. That being said, it's a lot of roles to compress onto one mon with no recovery, so perhaps Toxapex would be better served here instead? The combination of moves chosen has been pretty effective, with Nature's madness doing big chip for Nihilego to sweep later.
landorous (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 29 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Landorous. The standard smogon EVs (Can take 2 +1 grassy glides from Rillaboom etc). This is used as the Teams Stealth Rocker and Electric check. I opted for Knock Off over Defog or Toxic because I feel a Landorous without Knock Off just sits there a lot of the time and is too passive. I decided to reduce the IVs quite a bit for the slow u-turns, especially seeing as I wasn't too worried about outspeeding Heatran because of my own Heatran
Last edited by a moderator: